28 Nov The Importance of Fibre and Leafy Greens

We hope that you have enjoyed the blogs that we have written this months on Men’s health. In our final blog this month on Men’s Health, we look at diet, and the role of dietary fibre.

Leafy greens are some of the easiest and most beneficial vegetables to incorporate into your daily routine. Densely packed with energy and nutrients, they grow upward to the sky, absorbing the sun’s light while producing oxygen. Members of this royal green family include kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, dandelion greens, watercress, beetroot greens, bok choy, green cabbage, spinach and broccoli. All can be used for any spring cleanse recipe too.

How do greens benefit our bodies? They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed full of fibre, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. Their colour is associated with spring, which is a time to renew and refresh vital energy.

The Importance of Fibre

You need to include enough fibre in your diet to enable regular movement and to facilitate peristalsis, to prevent the waste matter being reabsorbed through the intestinal wall.

For a healthy gut you require a combination of soluble and insoluble fibres. Soluble fibres help you to feel full by attracting water and creating a gel-like substance during digestion. This slows the rate at which the sugars that are broken down in the body enter the bloodstream, thus regulating insulin response. This, in turn, reduces the harmful effects of insulin in the body such as weight gain and the accumulation of fat around the middle. Soluble fibres also interfere with the absorption of cholesterol.

Good sources of soluble fibre can be found in:

Psyllium

Flaxseeds

Oats

Nuts

Lentils

Beans

Pears

Oranges

Cucumbers

Celery

Carrots

Apples.

You should include foods that are full of insoluble fibre. These give bulk to the stools and prevent constipation. Because these fibres do not dissolve in water they pass through the intestinal tract intact, promoting the passage of waste matter. Good sources of insoluble fibre can be found in:

2 Comments

DEAR CJMIND AND BODY, I TRIED THIS RECIPE WHEN I LAST DID YOUR 12DAYS OF DETOX PLAN. IT WAS FAST, TASTY, EASY AND DELICIOUS, AND I HAVE TRIED IT WITH ABOUT 4 DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS INCLUDING RAINBOW CHARD, WHICH IS AWESOME:-)